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Onkyo TX-SR805 THX Ultra2 Certified Receiver
Introduction My grandparents would often attribute greatness to the presence of "something in the water." If there is something in the water, then the designers of today's modern home theater receivers are a hydrated bunch. The latest crop of receivers from the likes of Denon, Yamaha, Integra, Sony and Onkyo has not only been rather exceptional but measurably better than their costlier rivals, separate home theater components.They've been more up to date with the changing
marketplace (some, like the Onkyo TX-SR805, boast HDMI 1.3 specs), they're less expensive than ever and even easier to use. Oh, and they sound freaking great. Add it all up and it's no wonder why so many consumers and enthusiasts hip to the latest trends are snatching up receivers like candy from a piñata. Receivers make sense, and the latest offering from Onkyo, the TX-SR805 reviewed here, is no exception.
At $999 retail, the TX-SR805, at the time of its arrival at my home, represented Onkyo's flagship efforts in the ever-crowded receiver landscape. Since the TX-SR805's arrival Onkyo has released a new flagship model, the TX-NR905, which retails for $2,099, as well as a slightly better TX-SR875, which retails for $1,699. While the differences between the TX-SR805 and the TX-NR905 are very apparent, the differences between the TXSR805 and the TX-SR875 are a bit more subtle.
The TX-SR805 is a beauty of a receiver. While not tremendously out-of-the-box in its design (it's still a receiver, after all), it's very elegant and clean, with a fit and finish not common amongst receivers in its price class. The TX-SR805
comes in either a semi-gloss black or silver finish and measures a little over 17 inches wide by nearly eight inches tall and little over 18 inches deep, while tipping the scales at an impressive 50 pounds. The TX-SR805 is a brute amongst receivers, yet due to its superior industrial design and clean façade, it appears much sleeker than its dimensions would have you believe. The front is the epitome of simplicity, with several small input buttons lining the bottom of the TX-SR805's large LCD display flanked by a large volume knob bathed in a pale blue glow. The rest of the TX-SR805's manual controls, including the TX-SR805's set-up controls and Audyssey EQ microphone input, are hidden behind a substantial metal trapdoor that takes up the entire bottom of the TX-SR805's face.
urning the TX-SR805 around, I noticed the usual suspects in terms of connection options, i.e., component video, composite and S-video inputs, as well as analog and digital audio inputs, providing potential consumers with more than enough options to connect their gear. I won't go on ad nauseam about each of the input options, but I would like to point out that the TX-SR805 has three HDMI 1.3 inputs and one
HDMI 1.3 monitor output. The TX-SR805's HDMI inputs are capable of carrying 1080p video, as well as converting all of its
analog video inputs to digital via its HDMI output. The TXSR805' s HDMI inputs are also capable of carrying multi-channel
audio signals including, but not limited to, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. Beyond the TX-SR805's HDMI capabilities, it also
features nine sets of five-way binding posts, seven of which can be used for a 7.1 surround sound system, with two being used for a second zone and/or bi-amping your stereo or home theater mains. There are also analog audio outs for two zones, making the TX-SR805 a three-zone receiver, as well as providing inputs for both XM and Sirius satellite radio antenna.
Turning my attention towards the "guts" of the TX-SR805, I found a slew of state of the art features for both audio and video signals. For starters, the TX-SR805 is THX Ultra2 certified pumping out a substantial 130 watts per channel into eight ohms, across all seven channels into eight ohms and 160 watts per channel into six ohms, courtesy of its WRAT or Wide Range Amp Technology. The TX-SR805 uses Faroudja's latest DCDi/Edge deinterlacing chipset to convert incoming interlaced video signals to progressive scan for the best possible image on your HD-capable display. Like I said before, the TX-SR805 can accept and decode the latest lossless multi-channel audio signals,including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as featuring the latest in Neural Surround technology, which is a series of multi-channel DSPs that can be used in conjunction with non-HD broadcasts, stereo audio signals and video games. Lastly, the TX-SR805 features Audyssey Laboratories' latest MultiEQ EX acoustic correction software to ensure the best possible sound, including bass response, in any listening or viewing environment.
Which brings me to the remote. While not beautiful by any means, the TX-SR805's remote is supremely functional, rather
omni-directional (at least in my room) and features full backlighting via a button on its right side. The TX-SR805's
remote is rather large. However, all of the controls and features are clearly and cleanly laid out and, once in hand, its girth is rather comfortable. I love it. Huge props to the folks over at Onkyo for making a proper remote that can be used seemingly anywhere in the room and can also be seen in even the darkest environments. Seriously, I love this thing.
Set-up The TX-SR805 replaced the recently departed Yamaha RX-V861 which I raved about in the June edition of AVRev.com. The TX-SR805 fit into my reference system much in the same way
the Yamaha did, except for the fact that I could now connect my modified AppleTV to the receiver via a single HDMI cable, due to its having an additional HDMI input. I would also like to point out that, because of the TX-SR805's size, making the requisite connections between my Sony Blu-ray player, Toshiba HD-DVD player, Dish Network DVR and AppleTV was a snap due to its spacious and thoughtful layout. The TX-SR805's placement of the binding posts made speaker cable management and routing a snap, which I thoroughly appreciated. All in all, with a fistful of XLO Reference and Ultralink audio/video cables, I was able to integrate the TX-SR805 into my reference system and connect it to my Sony VW50 "Pearl" projector and reference Meridian inwall speakers in less than 15 minutes.
I'm not one to brag – okay, maybe I am a little – but integrating a receiver into my system is hardly "work." However, more often than not, setting one up via onscreen menus really is work. Before I even got to the TX-SR805's performance, its onscreen menu and set-up architecture was the best I'd ever encountered. I have never had an easier time navigating and setting up any piece of modern audio/video equipment. I even tinkered with the thought of having my girlfriend do the set-up to prove just how easy it was. Maybe next time, I will. Then again, not every receiver is the TX-SR805. Hell, no receiver is the TX-SR805 when it comes to set-up.
Minus the time it took me to calm down from the notion that the TX-SR805 may just be the best receiver I've ever had to use, I was up and running in less than 30 minutes, and that included the time it took to activate and use the automated Audyssey EQ software.
Music And Movies I decided to kick things off with one of my all-time favorite albums,
Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction (Geffen). Appetite just celebrated its 20-year anniversary and, according to Rolling Stone Magazine, was one of the last rock
albums recorded completely in the analog realm, which gives it the signature sound I love so much. Starting with "Welcome to the Jungle," the bass from the TX-SR805 was extremely well composed, with respectable depth and punch. At extreme volumes, the bass failed to become boomy or bloated. I was very impressed with the TX-SR805's speed and control when it came to the bass, regardless of whether or not I ran my speakers full range or used my trusty Outlaw Audio subwoofer. The high frequencies, especially the cymbals, were very natural-sounding, extremely full-bodied and smooth, sounding more analog than digital. The midrange was equally impressive, rendering Axl Rose's vocals faithfully with an excellent sense of weight and scale. The TX-SR805 can throw a soundstage unlike any receiver I've ever heard, painting a picture that is equal in both width and depth. More impressive still is that,unlike other receivers in the TX-SR805's price class, the TXSR805' s soundstage is wonderfully full from the center on out, filling seemingly every nook and cranny of the stage with sound, creating a seamless arc that extended well into my listening room.
Switching to the track "Sweet Child O' Mine," the opening guitar solo was quite impressive. When the drums kicked in,
their presence didn't overwhelm the guitars; instead, they complimented each other beautifully, propelling the song
forward to the inevitable explosion that kicks off Rose's vocals. Rhythmically, the TX-SR805 can swing with the best of them, never robbing the pulse of the music of any of its blood and guts. The drum kit was accurately portrayed in both size and placement. The kick drum through the TX-SR805 was thunderously deep and seemed of no concern to the TXSR805' s abilities as it easily pumped out strike after strike against the skins.
With my appetite for destruction sated,I decided to forgo further two-channel
fare and went straight for multichannel.I popped in the newly-released Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds:Live at Radio City (Sony) on Blu-ray. If this disc showcases anything, it's how promising and important the highdefinition disc formats are going to
become to the music industry. With the disc's menu set to Dolby TrueHD, I
cued up the opening track "Bartender." The opening guitars were hugely realistic and accurate, floating effortlessly out into my room. There was a fullness and dimension to the sound of the guitars not usually heard through receivers in the Onkyo's
price bracket. The TX-SR805's surround sound performance was spot on, favoring discretion and detail throughout all five speakers vs. muddying up the soundstage with artificial trickery. This obviously has a lot to do with the disc itself. However, when playing back the same track on a competitor's receiver, the sound was less composed and had a tinge of artificial echo to the sound. Matthews' vocals were equally impressive. Beyond just sounding right to my ears, the TXSR805' s biggest success was its ability to communicate the emotion of not only Matthews' vocals, but also the musical duet itself. It was moving, which excited me, because I've heard this track hundreds of times, not only on disc but live,and had never had this reaction.
I skipped ahead to rambunctious new song "Cornbread," which is a modern take on a good old down home song from the
South. The TX-SR805, once again, proved it could swing and keep time with the toe-tapping rhythm of the track. Tim
Reynolds' guitar skills weren't robbed a bit by the TX-SR805,allowing me to hear every strum, pluck and slide down the frets with an in-room presence I would normally associate with separate components. The higher frequencies of Reynolds'
guitar were rich and airy, with just a touch of warmth, which gave the presentation a slightly fuller sound. The midrange was equally impressive, again sharing that richness found in the upper frequencies. While I found the TX-SR805 to sound rich and full, don't mistake that for bloated, fat or slow, as it is anything but. While Live at Radio City isn't quite a tour de
force when it come to the bass frequencies, the sound was incredibly robust and three-dimensional, despite the missing
bottom end.
Switching gears, I popped in The XFiles season three on DVD (Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment).
Focusing on disc one and the episode entitled "Paper Clip," I was able to give
the TX-SR805's video abilities a run for their money. The X-Files is one of my all-time favorite series, but it's been hard to watch nowadays, as it aired before the onset of HD. That said, it is standard-definition. Interlaced video is a good test for any receiver's video
capabilities. I played video via my trusty Oppo DVD player, using a composite video connection straight into the TX-SR805's front panel inputs. With the video settings set to 1080p via the single HDMI monitor out, I achieved similar results. The image was
smoother through the TX-SR805 than without, although there was still some shimmer and stair-stepping in the vertical lines of the many city exterior shots. Noise levels were dramatically reduced through the TX-SR805. Overall, the TX-SR805 did an admirable job of taking a truly repulsive standard-definition image and making it viewable. When playing back the same video with my Toshiba HDA20 HD DVD player handling all of the video processing, the image was only marginally better than through the TX-SR805, which I believe speaks volumes as to
how good the Onkyo's internal video prowess is for the money,given the truly phenomenal chipsets found inside the Toshiba player. From a sound standpoint, the TX-SR805 didn't disappoint. While not mixed in Dolby Digital, the various
Dolby ProLogic and DTS audio DSPs worked wonders with the various audio elements. Dialogue was clear and intelligible.
Mark Snow's score was hauntingly effective and moved about the multiple speakers like a stalking predator. When the action kicked in, especially with the arrival of a UFO, the TXSR805's bass capabilities were impressive. Most receivers tend
to rumble you out of your seat with slow, sloppy bass that's more shove than strike. The TX-SR805's rendering of the
approaching UFO was furniture-rattling deep but very controlled, allowing me to hear the subtle changes in direction
and speed in the craft as it settled over the abandoned mine.
I ended my time with the TX-SR805 with the animated TMNT (Warner Home Video) on Blu-ray. With both the 1080p video and uncompressed multichannel audio being fed to the TXSR805 via a single HDMI cable, I was in ninja turtle heaven. The image quality was amazing in every sense of the word. I couldn't detect any loss of
video quality of any sort through the TX-SR805 when compared to connecting my Sony Blu-ray player directly to my Sony projector. The detail was astounding, as were the colors. Edge fidelity, always a cornerstone of CG animated features, was superb, which helped lend a greater sense of depth to the image. Black levels were inky smooth and rife with detail, allowing me to see further than ever before into some of the dimly lit alleys and landscapes. White levels were equally impressive, with nary a sign of blooming. Sonically, the TX-SR805 was magnificent. In the scene where Raphael and the recently returned Leonardo fought on a rooftop in the rain, the aural canvas the TX-SR805 used for painting the image was immense. The high frequency slaps of the rain against the metal structures on the roof sounded organic and wet, and were nicely balanced by the dead weight thumps of the sparring brothers' jabs. The buzzing neon sign in the background was subtle but present and a nice touch, as was the rendering of the city below, which helped to transport me into the heart of the action. The sound was enveloping yet not artificially so, and balanced beautifully between the multiple
speakers. The bass prowess was again the TX-SR805's party piece, anchoring the action nicely with taut, deep and rich bass, especially in the harder body shots dished out by the dueling brothers.
he Downside While the Onkyo TXSR805 multi-channel receiver is rather
exceptional, there were a few things about it that concerned me. For
starters, it runs very hot – hotter than most receivers in its class. At times of extreme usage, it became too hot to touch. I had to re-rack my whole system to allow for more ventilation about a week into my review to combat the heat issue. Those of you with space constraints or enclosed racks should pay close attention or install a cooling system of some sort to lessen
the effects. I would not stack components on top of the TXSR805 under any circumstances, even for a short while.
While the TX-SR805's HDMI inputs functioned without fail,passing every signal thrown at them, they were at times a bit
sluggish to respond to changes on the fly between various HD sources, mainly my HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Because of handshake issues with just about all things HD and HDMI these days, it's hard to say if this sluggish performance was the result of the TX-SR805 or the players themselves. Needless to say, it was present.
Lastly, and I am nitpicking, I would've liked to see the facemounted mounted input buttons backlit, much in the same way as the TXSR805' s manual volume control. Despite its killer remote, I still manually operated the TX-SR805 from time to time, and the inclusion of lit input buttons would have been much appreciated.
Conclusion With a retail price of $999, the Onkyo TX-SR805 is a juggernaut. How Onkyo is able to pack so much performance, technology and livability into such an inexpensive package is beyond me. A year ago, a receiver boasting half of what the Onkyo TX-SR805 delivers would have run you twice as much, which speaks not only to the sheer value of the TX-SR805, but also to the efficiency and prowess of the Onkyo designers themselves.
The TX-SR805 does so many things right technologically, and sounds more high-end than any other receiver I've heard in
recent memory, that I have no inclination to remove it from my rack any time soon. As bowled over as I was with the Yamaha RX-V861, nothing could've prepared me for the TX-SR805. Don't get me wrong, there are other great receivers out there, but it's the completeness of the TX-SR805 that astounds me most. Be it music or movies, high definition or standard definition, adding or subtracting gear or even operating another zone, the Onkyo TX-SR805 simply shines. It is the first feature-packed receiver I've encountered that doesn't appear to be preoccupied with its own technology. Instead, the TX-SR805 opts to entertain and, while the latest technology may play a role in the total enjoyment of your system, tearing your hair out to get to it isn't entertaining. The Onkyo TX-SR805 is a wonderful receiver, one Onkyo should be proud of and one you'd be silly to pass up.


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Vail Pet Talk: Treating allergies in pets
VAIL CO, Colorado
Skin allergies in pets can cause a variety of symptoms, from the occasional scratching to recurring ear infections to hair loss and painful skin lesions. Skin allergies can be simplified into three general categories: flea, food, and atopy/environmental.
Flea allergies are not as much of an issue in the valley as they can be in other parts of the country. A common misconception is that there are no fleas in our area, so flea allergies do not exist. However, it is important to realize that a single flea bite can send an animal into a hyper allergic state. Inflammation, hair loss and itchiness are usually along the rear portion of the back and tail head, the inside of the thighs and the flanks. The simple way to rule out a flea allergy is to treat the pet with a monthly topical product that kills any fleas and repels future infestations. Most products also treat and prevent ticks, mosquitoes, and lice.
There is a large amount of false information out there concerning food allergies in pets. Many food companies advertise diets that are "hypoallergenic" because they do not contain grain or gluten. The fact is approximately 95 percent of food allergies are due to protein sources, namely chicken, beef and lamb. Food allergies are non-seasonal and signs usually involve the ears, feet, groin and face/neck. Gastrointestinal signs can also be present (vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence). The best method for diagnosing a food allergy is a 3-4 month hypoallergenic food trial where the diet is fed exclusively with no table scraps. Apples, carrots or bison/venison based products can be used for treats. Hypoallergenic diets come in a variety of formulas and need to be prescribed by a veterinarian.
The third and most difficult pet allergy to diagnose and treat is atopy or environmental. These are inhaled or cutaneously absorbed allergens and they are numerous (grass, mold, dust mites and insects to name a few). The distribution of the signs usually involves the paws, flanks and groin. There will often be salivary staining and/or hair loss on the paws from excessive licking. Diagnosis is ideally made by skin testing with a veterinary dermatologist, but the diagnosis is often made by ruling out the other types of allergies and/or gauging response to treatment. There are a number of treatments that can be effective, including immunotherapy (allergy shots based on skin or blood testing results), antihistamines, fatty acid supplementation, and medicated shampoos. Systemic glucocorticoids/steroids can relieve signs, but can have deleterious long-term side effects. Alternative immunosuppressive therapy (i.e. cyclosporine) has also been effective.
The Vail Valley Animal Hospital has the experience and expertise to diagnose and treat these pet allergy conditions and relieve your pet's discomfort along with your frustration.
Dr. Charlie Meynier, DVM, has been a practicing vet for more than 12 years with a degree from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Jim Stortz, DVM, has been a practicing vet since completing his Emergency and Critical Care Medicine internship in 2006. The Vail Valley Animal Hospital offers services at both Eagle Vail and Edwards locations. For more information and to make an appointment, call 970-949-4044 (Eagle-Vail) or 970-926-3496 (Edwards) or visit http://www.vailvalleyanimalhospital.com.
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The Auto Insert will work in TextEdit and iWork Numbers, and any other open field. It just won't do it in Pages.
I've rebooted, deleted the old widget file and the preferences plist file. Still the same issue.
Also, in the applications that the Widget will paste it does not dismiss dashboard.
Has anyone else had this issue and solved it?
Mac OS X 10.5.8
Widget Version - 1.6.2
Edited by circuitrider, 11 December 2009 - 01:39 PM.


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By ANGIE FENTON
Managing Editor
The Voice-Tribune
It started with a date.
He let me plan the evening and I chose Fourth Street Live as the location, though I normally stay far away from the downtown locale, which has a reputation for catering to conventions, out-of-towners and a late-night party crowd. We'd have dinner there at one of the various restaurants and then, the highlight of our night, would be spent on the ice skating rink installed just before Light Up Louisville, smack in the middle of Fourth Street.
The overall date was fantastic (but that's fodder for a different kind of story), but what was most enjoyable is how we both kind of let loose once on the "ice,†a synthetic plastic coated with a silicone spray that emulates the feeling of the crystalline solid.
As a Michigan native who has skated on numerous frozen lakes and ponds, it took me a few moments to get used to the surface. But my date, who hadn't skated in 15 years and had only done so a couple of times before, laced up his rentals and stepped out onto the slippery grounds without trepidation.
For more than an hour we laughed, we talked and we learned something: Ice skating is an art, but it's also an amazing way to interact with others because it's hard to keep your guard up when your fear of taking a literal tumble supersedes your worry about making a dating misstep.
The activity also turned two people who work more often than not into silly kids who forgot, at least for a moment, about errands, deadlines and responsibilities. It was pure bliss.
So I went back the next day – solo.
And the next day, too.
On the third day, I invited The Voice-Tribune production team to go with me during lunch, eager to get their reviews. What I didn't expect was that the greatest reactions would come from passersby on the downtown street.
As we skated and fumbled our way around the ice (some of us more than others), people stopped to watch, laugh and ask questions. Who were we? (Voice-Tribune staffers). What were we doing? (Um, skating.) Why? (Because we wanted to see what it felt like). What does it feel like? (Amazing and so fun.) Will you be back again soon? (Oh yes!)
When we returned to skate during lunchtime on a Thursday, we wore tutus for no other reason than because someone suggested it as a joke and we decided why not, before we allowed ourselves to reconsider. People stopped us to ask questions and reach through the railing to touch the "ice.†A few jumped on with us to give it a spin ($5/hour plus $2/rental fee). Others took brochures from the attendants, promising they'd be back with their children and significant others during the non-work hours.
The following day, we hit the ice at noon, this time dressed as superheroes and skated in front of hundreds of people over the lunch hour. Yes, it was ridiculous and silly – but it was so much more. For sixty minutes, we convinced a few of the onlookers to turn off work mode and try out the ice. We made people laugh and laughed at ourselves. I mean, who is going to notice if you aren't exactly a stellar skater when you're gliding past Supergirl and The Flash, who keep falling on their hineys?
Over those hours on the "ice,†we forgot about errands, deadlines and responsibilities. We burned a few calories and used muscles we forgot we had. And when we went back to work, we were refreshed and ready to get back to business. We were also eager to plan our next group lunchtime skate.
Friday around noon. Tutus optional.
Contact writer Angie Fenton at firstname.lastname@example.com or @angiefenton on Twitter.Â
Fourth Street Live! Ice Skating Rink
The rink is open through Dec. 28. You can skate 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $5 an hour for adults, $3 an hour for children under 18. Day passes are available for $10 per person or you can buy a season pass for $40. Skate rental is available for $2.
40 Nights of Lights
The city's annual holiday celebration is now a four-block festival of lights set to music between the Galt House Hotel and Fourth Street Live! – and includes the ice skating rink. The nightly light show synchronized to music starts at 6 p.m. Enjoy free musical performances on Saturdays in December starting at 5:30 p.m. at Fourth Street.


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Above: The Student Union Committee meets with prospective architects to discuss purpose and vision.
Professional Service Consultants
For a project of this size, UIS needed the skills of a team of professionals. The following were selected to work on the project. Please note that some of these are local (Springfield) firms, and several are minority firms–both of which played a role in their selection.
Architectural Firms
Dewberry, the architectural firm of record, is among the leading architecture practices for higher education facilities. They have over six decades of experience designing educational facilities, with projects valued at more than $1 billion in construction completed to date. Dewberry has designed buildings for large universities, community colleges, and small, private institutions throughout the country.
When working on a project, Dewberry meets the challenges of campus identity, sustainability, security, and evolving program needs. They have designed many different types of buildings, from classroom, library, and laboratory environments to residence halls, student centers/unions, and recreational facilities.
Recent projects
- Student Center and Services Building, Mountain View College, Dallas, Texas
- Renovation of the Student Union at Oklahoma State University
Workshop Architects
Workshop Architects, a planning, programming, and architectural firm, focuses on creating environments for social interaction and creative expression. Guided by robust research and design methodologies, Workshop's team of architects, planners and designers work with leading educational, cultural and corporate institutions to plan and design spaces that reflect their client's highest aspirations.
The firm designs from the "Inside-Out." They believe that good design can inspire creativity, nurture social interaction, and build community. Good design, however, is shaped not just by architects; it is shaped by the very people who will socialize in its lounges, perform on its stages, and work within its walls, so they listen deeply to how people want to feel when they are in a space, and then design around the highest aspirations that clients express.
Recent projects
- South Campus Union, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Yellow Jacket Union, University of Wisconsin-Superior
- Other projects
Additional Firms
- Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineering Firm:
TRC Worldwide Engineering, Inc.
(Springfield, IL firm and a Minority-Based Enterprise)
- Cost Estimating Firm:
Construction Cost Systems, Inc.
(Minority-Based Enterprise)
- Civil Engineering Firm:
Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc.
(Springfield, IL firm)
- Landscape Architectural Firm:
Massie Massie & Associates
(Springfield, IL firm and a Female-Based Enterprise)
- Food Service Consultant:
Ricca Newmark Design
(Female-Based Enterprise)


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Massachusetts legislators take $1,100 pay cut
Governor, constitutional officers also see salary reduction
Massachusetts lawmakers are taking pay cut, the State House News Service reported.
The 158 House and Senate legislators sworn in Wednesday will see their base pay drop in 2013 and 2014 by $1,106 compared to those who served during the past two-year session.
While dozens of legislators will receive extra pay tied to responsibilities assigned to them by House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray, the base pay for legislators has been reset to $60,334 a year.
The pay cut reflects a 1.8 percent decline in the median household income over the past two years as certified by Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday in a letter sent to Treasurer Steven Grossman and obtained by the News Service.
A constitutional amendment approved by Massachusetts voters in 1998 tied the salaries of legislators to changes in the average household income, causing wages to rise and fall every two years based on the strength of wages statewide. The governor is required to determine the rate of change at the start of each new two-year session.
Patrick will also see his salary decrease by about $2,500 to $137,321 a year. The adjustment will be applied to all constitutional officers.
In addition to their base pay, dozens of lawmakers receive stipends ranging from $7,500 for some committee chairs and vice chairs to $35,000 for the House speaker and Senate president.


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CFP: [Gender Studies] "The Body: Images, Perceptions, and Representations
The English Graduate Organization of Western Illinois University invites
submissions to our fifth annual conference, "The Body: Images,
Perceptions, and Representations.†The human body is a topic of both
significance and curiosity amongst various disciplines and discourse
communities. In history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, rhetoric and
literature, the body serves as a symbol, metaphor, and inspiration for
many larger aspects of human nature. For this reason, we will be hosting
our annual conference November 8, 2008 to consider the roles of the body
in literature and the overall fascination with the human form. Our
keynote speaker will be Martha Stoddard Holmes, Assistant Professor and
Graduate Program Advisor at California State University in San Marcos.
Stoddard was trained as a fiction writer and scholar in Victorian
literature and culture and specializes in Disability Studies.
Possible paper topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
• • Disability Studies
• • The role of literature in body, spiritual, and
mental wellness
• • The national and social body in literature
• • Aesthetics of the body
• • Roles or extensions of the body in labor and
• • Celebrated and oppressed bodies
• • Intersections of religion and the body
• • Colonialism and the body
• • Gender studies and representations of the male
and female body
• Accessibility in online environments
• The body and science fiction studies
• Pedagogy of the body
• Rhetorical considerations of the body
• The place of the body in popular culture
Please send a 150-200 word abstract, along with name and email to en-
brackman_at_wiu.edu by September 15, 2008.
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
more information at
Received on Tue Apr 29 2008 - 17:06:33 EDT


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Welcome to the Australian Wine Centre
Mascareri is an ode to the elite mask maker's guild of Venice. "Those who made the Venetian masks at the age of the Serenissima were the "Mascareri", associated in the Arte deiMaschereri since 1436." Mascarerienjoyed a prominent and well respected position within society, and lived lavish and extravagant lifestyles (similar to the art they created). Originally only 11 people were within the mascherer community including one woman.
A bright pale yellow colour with fine and persistent bubbles. The nose is fresh and inviting with delicate aromas of ripe yellow apple, melon and pear overlaid by hints of opulent acacia flowers and the light fragrance of leavening dough. Beautifully pure stone fruit and baked apple flavours, again very fresh, against a soft and smooth background with nicely balanced natural fruit sweetness.
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Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Being Schooled
Lately, doctors are being schooled by the media.
From how to learn empathy, to improving communication with patients, the breadth and depth of what we should do for our patients is endless. Why, some even have our own colleague "experts" tell us how we should really do things.
These efforts, while probably well-intentioned, are patronizing. Do doctors tell journalists how to write or what to print?
Why are doctors seeing these main stream media efforts? Is it because most doctors are really incapable of the ability to listen and communicate with our patients? Is it because we must keep a stiff upper lip for what's coming in 2014? Or is this not-so-subliminal agenda of social engineering underway for some other reason?
It goes without saying that all of us should communicate better. (Think how many wars or family fights we could have avoided if we had, for instance.) And every doctor should turn their head away from computer screens and toward their patients, hold the patient's hands, look into their eyes, listen to their concerns, put ourselves in their place, do a thorough physical exam, have constant empathy and insight, read back medications, write out written instructions in 5th grade English, escort our patients back to the waiting room, or utilize highly skilled and educated assistants with all of these tasks, too. But the reality is this: time and ancillary resources are limited these days for doctors. Helpers cost money. Productivity must occur before new helpers are hired. More people than ever are entering health care thanks to intense marketing campaigns and new mandates for care. And there are so many doctors with only so many minutes in the day.
So doctors have to triage. Sickest first. We move as fast as we can to remain productive, because that's what's REALLY valued in healthcare these days. So is patient loyalty because that's what keeps them coming back. But in the process of growing loyalty, we increasingly have to document everything or other payers think it doesn't happen. So we type. And click. And type. And click. And print. To get paid. Talk about a communication and empathy buzz-kill!
Yet for those looking in, we must communicate better! "Listen to our "experts!" they proclaim.
Medicine was once considered a place where patients could confide in their doctors about their most intimate concerns and doctors had time to listen. Notes were one- or two-line jots in a chart. We'd spend the extra time because we were valued for our skills and for our knowledge and there was more to it than just pay. We had skin in the game. We got paid in chickens. We knew our patients. Back then, seven-minute appointments didn't exist. Now, doctors are cultivated as shift workers. Patients have Google. Everyone has information at their fingertips. Our new story line has become there are no limits to what patients can have in health care. Perfect data. Perfect health care access. Error-free health care with perfect delivery. Perfect communicating doctors. Always. We're building our medical Utopia.
But this effort to school doctors on our path to Nirvana has a serious downside for health care workers on the front lines.
As I've said before, there's a growing culture of hostile dependency that continues to grow toward doctors these days. The theme is like an adolescent who realizes his parents have feet of clay. He comes out of his childhood bubble and realizes his parents have failures and limitations because they are human beings. This results in the adolescent feeling unsafe, unprotected and vulnerable. Since this is not a pleasant feeling, narcissistic rage is triggered toward the people he needs and depends on the most. None of this occurs at a conscious level. Most of us understand this behavior simply as "adolescent rebellion," not understanding the powerful issues at play. So when we spotlight one side of what doctors should do for patients, be it improve communication or empathy (or whatever) without acknowledging the realities health care workers face like looming staffing shortages and pay cuts, we risk fanning the flames of narcissistic rage against the very caregivers whom we depend on the most - the very caregivers who are striving to communicate, do more with less, check boxes while still looking in the patient's eyes, meet productivity ratios, all while working in a highly litigious environment.
So be careful. Maybe we should school doctors less and value them more.
Who knows? Such a move might make things better for everyone in the long run.
5 comments:
the media is instructing everyone and doing so with impunity. They are also selecting what and how they will present their viewpoint. Facts are irrelevant.. suppression is a way of business.. witness Philly abortionist trial.. Who outside of Philly has heard of it? Because of our abysmal education system and a society which really does not value logic, wisdom, and prudence, we have citizens who are led by the headlines combined with adolescent immaturity.. which is not to say it would be nice to see the doctor's eyes every once in a while. In short your column today is an object lesson in the nanny state gone wild..with their enforcers..the media. Glad I am
" healthy" and old! peace, Dr. Wes
- Wed Apr 10, 08:28:00 AM CDT
- Allison said...
I'm 60, so that's my perspective. To many of us, it seems like the people in the cubicles, doing what ever it is that they do, are taking over the country, to its detriment. We can't do anything anymore. The F35 is an excellent example of group think incompetence. Six Sigma, 5S, Quality this that and the other all seek to remove individual initiative from the process of making things and turn people into interchangable cogs. Now medicine is under attack from the cubicle people. I feel bad for you, and worse for me as I enter my golden years.
- Wed Apr 10, 12:53:00 PM CDT
Come on Dr Wes - you school the press all the time. I am not saying you are wrong, just saying that it goes on all the time. Admittedly, with the focus on healthcare, physicians are probably getting more than their fair share at the moment but many, many professions have had their periods of high scrutiny. Certainly school teachers have faced similar public assualts, as have many other professions. Unfortunately the only way to counter it is to create a successful forum to tell your side of the story. You are doing it with your blog, but you could probably use more help from groups like the AHA, ACC, HRS, etc. Keep telling your story.
- Wed Apr 10, 04:40:00 PM CDT
We have become a society governed by "mindless metrics", formulated by ignorant task masters who view human services from a cold, calculated business/systems perspective. Not limited to healthcare mind you, it underlies many maladies affecting our society. The teachers' cheating scandal in Atlanta probably has its roots in the Law of Unintended Consequences that arise from the dictates of individuals incapable of appreciating the indeterminacy of human behavior.
As an illustrative example, many hospital ED's use patient throughput as the defining metric. They brag about it in their insipid ads. The result? Someone with a hemoglobin of 6 ends up in a regular room without anyone bothering to perform a rectal exam in order to determine if the patient might be having a life threatening GI bleed. Efficiency first! I've seen it first hand. But as long as things breeze along, and administrators smile, who cares?
- Wed Apr 10, 05:03:00 PM CDT
- medicine for real said...
agree with anonymous. We bloggers could use some help from the organizations that "represent" us.
- Wed Apr 17, 08:57:00 AM CDT


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Qur'an and Modern Science: Conflict or Conciliation?
This article or section is being renovated.
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This is a response to Dr. Zakir Naik's comments concerning the theory of evolution during the 'Qur'an and Modern Science – Conflict or Conciliation?' question and answer session.
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Analysis
- 2.1 The Origin of Species
- 2.2 Darwin's Finch
- 2.3 Thomas Thromtan
- 2.4 Missing Links
- 2.5 Galileo's Sentence
- 2.6 "Enemy of My Enemy"
- 2.7 The Four "Homonites"
- 2.8 Link Between Stages
- 2.9 P.P. Grasse
- 2.10 Sir Albert George
- 2.11 Sir Fred Hoyle
- 2.12 Ruperts Albert
- 2.13 Created from Apes
- 2.14 Sir Frank Salosbury
- 2.15 Sir Whitemeat
- 2.16 Amoeba and Parameshia
- 2.17 No proof
- 2.18 Henses Crake
- 3 Conclusion
- 4 See Also
- 5 External Links
- 6 References
A rising star in the field of Muslim apologetics is Dr. Zakir Naik of India. Many Muslims, especially the younger generation, refer to this apologist, who believes apostates should be executed,[1] as an expert in the "scientific miracles" of the Qur'an.
He once attempted to refute the theory of evolution during the 'Qur'an and Modern Science – Conflict or Conciliation?' question and answer session.[2] Here we present Dr. Naik's transcript, annotated to identify each of his factual errors. His demonstrable errors will each be numbered.
The Origin of Species
1. There is no such Island named "Keletropist."
2. Birds do not "peck at niches."
Darwin did spend several years sailing around the entire world as ship's naturalist in the HMS Beagle. One of his stops was the Galapagos Islands, where he found a number of finches (birds) that lived (not "pecked") in different ecological niches.
Dr. Naik apparently is dimly aware of this story, but his description shows that his recollection is fuzzy at best, hardly of the caliber expected of a serious debater.
Darwin's Finch
3. There are actually fourteen different species of Darwin's finch. Not one.
Darwin's observations on the different finches were not made until after the Beagle's voyage was ended. So he cannot have made this observation "in the same species" as Darwin did not even realize they were all finches until he brought his specimens back to England where they were classified by a professional ornithologist. Within each of the species, beak length was not variable. The comparison of different beak lengths can only have been made between different species.
4. The differences were more than just beak length. They included color, size, mating behavior, songs, and preferred food. In fact they were so different that Darwin did not even realize they were all finches.
Thomas Thromtan
5. An internet search fails to find that anybody named "Thomas Thromtan," or in fact that anybody with that surname exists. A search of Darwin's published correspondence (which includes his notebooks, diaries, letters and autobiography) fail to uncover anyone with that name. Such a letter does not exist.
6. Darwin published the "Origin of Species" in 1859. Two years before Naik claims this letter was written. The book is recognized primarily for doing two different things. First it was a vast compendium of evidence for the factual occurrence of evolution. Secondly, it announced a theory to explain the fact of evolution, "Natural Selection." Scientists immediately concluded that he had succeeded in demonstrating that evolution had occurred, but it took many years before they accepted that his theory to explain it was correct.
Darwin could not have used the words, "I don't believe in the theory of evolution because I haven't got any proof," since that is exactly what his book was immediately and universally recognized to have provided
Missing Links
7. Darwin's admission that there were "missing links" does not mean that he disagreed with it. He did not disagree with it. In fact, he even predicted where the human "missing links" would be found (Africa) and he was right.
Galileo's Sentence
8. Galileo was never sentenced to death. Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 22, 1633 and then that sentence was commuted to house arrest. He died more than eight years later on the evening of January 8, 1642 of old age.
Naik goes on to make the same false statement two more times, but we only count it as one factual error.
"Enemy of My Enemy"
9. As already mentioned, most scientists did not support Darwin's theory for many years after he published his book.
10. Most of these same scientists were religious people who did not consider the church "their enemy."
11. The only thing they accepted was the fact that evolution had occurred, precisely and solely because Darwin's "proof" was overwhelming.
Basically, this account by Dr. Naik is a total fabrication. A review of the published work and private letters of the scientists of Darwin's day do not even hint at it. There is not the tiniest shred of historical evidence that would lead anyone to believe that scientists accepted evolution because they were enemies of the church.
The Four "Homonites"
First is "Lucy" along with its guy Dosnopytichest, which died about 3 and ½ million years. The Ice Age.
Then next came the Homo sapiens who dies out about 5 hundred thousand years ago.
Then came the "Neanderthal Man," who dies a hundred to forty thousand years ago.Then came the fourth stage, "CroMagnon."
Everything Dr. Naik says here is wrong.
12. There is no such word as "homonites." We suspect he means "hominids," but he is not competent enough to know the right words.
13. There are not a mere "four" hominids, there are at least fourteen.
14. There is no such hominid as "dosnopytchest." Lucy was an Australopithecus afarensis.
15. The ice age was not 3 ½ million years ago. It was between 1.6 million years to 10,000 years ago.
16. Homo sapiens did not die out 500 thousand years ago. Humans are Homo sapiens, and they are still very much alive.
17. Neanderthal man was not on the direct line to modern man. He was an ice age offshoot and went extinct 30 thousand (not "hundred to forty thousand") years ago.
18. Cro-Magnon man is the same thing as Homo Sapiens.
Link Between Stages
19. There are many links between these stages. Between Australopithecus afarensis and Homo sapiens there are at least three. Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, and Homo heidelbergensis.
P.P. Grasse
What P.P. Grasse wrote in 1971 does not matter, given the fact that most fossils of human ancestors have been found since then. Further more, Grasse never said that there was no evidence for evolution, and in fact his research supported evolution completely. He was simply commenting on the fossils that were known at that time.
It is dishonest of Naik to use such old quotes when he knows that more recent quotes from the same scientist would contradict him. But we will not number this as a factual error.
Sir Albert George
20. Nobody named "Sir Albert George" ever won a Nobel Prize.
21. If he means Albert Szent-Gyorgyi von Nagyrapolt, he did not invent Vitamin C. Vitamin C is a naturally occurring substance that did not need to be invented.
22. There is no such book as "The Can't Ape and Man".
Sir Fred Hoyle
Fred Hoyle was an astronomer, not a biologist. And his one great contribution to his own field, the steady state theory of the universe, turned out to be false. But this will not be counted as a factual error.
Ruperts Albert
Who is Ruperts Albert? We can find no trace of anybody with that name. But, to give Naik the benefit of the doubt, this will not be counted as a factual error.
It is worth noting that if "he wrote a new theory of evolution," then he must have believed that evolution was true.
Created from Apes
23. The idea is not that humans "are created from the apes." Biologically, humans are apes still. The idea is that humans share a common ancestor with the living apes.
24. As a statement, this one is very easy to demonstrate as false. It is apparently very thinkable, because most competent scientists do think it.
Sir Frank Salosbury
25. Evidently Naik is referring to Prof. Frank B. Salisbury, the one time head of Plant Science at Utah State University. There is no evidence that he ever received a knighthood from any of the world's extant monarchies.
Sir Whitemeat
Who is Sir Whitemeat? For the third time, we can find no trace of anybody with that name.
Ignoring the fact that the "appeal to authority" is not a very strong rhetorical position, one would assume that Naik was familiar enough with the authorities he is referencing to actually know their names. However, of all the men he references as opposing evolution, he knows the names of only half of them.
Amoeba and Parameshia
26. There is no such thing as a "paremishia." Perhaps he means paramecium. But the evolutionary change of an amoeba to a paramecium is about the same amount of evolutionary change as required for a clam to change into a human being.
No proof
27. There are vast amounts of direct evidence for evolution. It is "proven" to the same level of confidence that gravitation has been proven.
Henses Crake
28. There is no such person as "Henses Crake." Naik probably means Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA. Francis Crick believes 100% in evolution, and in 2003 told the London Telegraph that he did not believe in God at all.
Dr. Zakir Naik may be a very charismatic man, as well as a very dynamic speaker. But if this response is characteristic of the content of his speeches, he is a profoundly incompetent scholar.
His contentions are so error prone as to be embarrassing. He rarely gets a name correct, fails to understand the most basic details of the ideas he is critiquing, and cannot even get simple, well-known facts of history correct, like whether or not Galileo was sentenced to death.
His entire refutation was rather short and received a rapturous applause from his audience. Yet in those few words, Dr. Naik managed to make a total of 28 demonstrable errors of simple fact. This is an astounding level of scientific incompetence.
See Also
- Zakir Naik - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Zakir Naik
- Refutations - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Refutations
External Links
- ↑ Zakir Naik - Questions and Answers 4 of 4 (30:15 in the video)
- ↑ Dr. Zakir Naik - Quran and Modern Science – Conflict or Conciliation? - Institute Al Islam


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Today Is the Day We Honor Beverly Hills 90210
Due to a happy accident of the calendar, today is 9/02/10, and diehard fans are using it as an excuse to celebrate the quintessential '90s drama, Beverly Hills 90210. It's time we have our own discussion about the show.
For members of a certain generation, 90210 was our first brush with pop culture obsession. Kicking off in '90 on the still-fledgling Fox network, the show was a scrubbed-clean soap opera from the genius mind of Aaron Spelling and Darren Starr about a pair of twins who come from the simple life in Minnesota to the racy world of Beverly Hills. Enrolled at West Beverly High School, Brandon and Brenda Walsh were the aw-shucks foils to the fast-living teens that soon made up their circle of friends. There was celebrity spawn Steve, party girl Kelly, bad boy Dylan, dim but sweet virgin Donna, striving freshman David, some kid in a cowboy hat who got shot, and Andrea, the brainy editor of the school paper who lived on the wrong side of the tracks and lied about her address to get into the good school. How boringly earnest.
When 90210 started, it was one of the lowest-rated shows on the air. Teenagers slowly started tuning into the show, though, and helped take it from the brink of cancellation to the center of the pop culture universe. For many of us, this was our first brush with the power of youth culture. Instead of adults telling us what to watch, teens all over the country made their voices heard and tuned into the show, turning what could have been a long-forgotten series into a pop culture obsession. We made the boys into heartthrobs and the girls into heroes. We put their likenesses on T-shirts, trading cards, Trapper Keepers, and anything else with a flat surface. Saving this show meant we had a voice, a bit of control over the vast sea of programming that ends up on the television.
And then we grew up with them. We went off to college, we got boyfriends and girlfriends, found ourselves at the center of love triangles, started careers, thought we, too, might have gotten pregnant while losing our virginity on prom night, faced disappointments, and dated a really hot artist with a cocaine problem. We did everything together, but they did it with better outfits.
And they also did it with some crazy plots. Starting with Brenda Walsh's bitchy turn to the dark side, there was always a lovable villainess on the show to hate even while rooting for her. Things went over the top quickly, but that's just what we craved, a world unlike our own, fraught with peril and extravagance, something that was just out of reach but really a burnished version of what we were experiencing ourselves.
90210 lasted for a solid decade, but even before it went off the air, it was already in syndication. Watching reruns of 90210 was like instant nostalgia, reliving the rites of passage that happened just a few years earlier with what seemed like the wise distance of adulthood. It also introduced the show to those younger than us, giving them the same connection with the show that we once had, even though it was with an added dose of irony. But it's thanks to them that there's an all-new 90210 that has also learned to trade in serious issues, bitchy chicks and outlandish developments.
There are some questions about the original 90210 that will never die. Who should Kelly have chosen: Dylan or Brandon? Who was the best bitch: Brenda Walsh, Valerie Malone, or dark horse Gina Kincaid? Does it still bother you that the people playing high schoolers were clearly in their 20s and 30s? Which do you prefer, the original Peach Pit or Peach Pit After Dark? Can you actually walk into a convenience story and ask to only buy one egg? Were long sideburns and bushy bangs ever a good idea? Why the hell was Brandon working all the time and trying to save money when everyone else was rich? Was the world out to get him? What the hell ever happened to poor Emily Valentine, the best ex-girlfriend ever on primetime television? Why was it so damn important that Donna Martin graduate? Wasn't that just a bunch of rich kids trying to bend the rules based on what made them feel good?
These are the questions of our age, and we invite you to debate them in the comments. Also tell us your favorite episodes, treasured moments, favorite characters, and just about anything else 90210-related that comes into your pretty little head. Be sure to include pictures and YouTube videos when possible. Together we will claim this day for our youth, ourselves, for 90210, and the duh-nun-duh-nun, duh-nun-duh-nun tap tap that beats in the hearts of everyone.


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
1466 - 1536
Historical Period:
The Renaissance and the Reformation
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a Christian, humanist scholar; the first editor of the New Testament; a classicist; and a leading voice in the theological debates of the early Reformation in northern Europe. He contended with the reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546), emphasizing the importance of free will in human actions against Luther's belief in the absolute bondage of the will to sin.


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Cherry Pie Dessert
"A friend shared this recipe with me," says Alisha Rice of Albany, Oregon about this easy dessert with a shortbread-like crust. It's buttery but crunchy and kids will absolutely love it.
Total TimePrep: 20 min. Bake: 20 min. + cooling
Makes12-15 servings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup cold butter, cubed
- 1 can (30 ounces) cherry pie filling
- 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
- In a small bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
- Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack. Spoon pie filling over crust; spread with whipped topping. Store in the refrigerator.


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January Blues? No way! The Kelowna Rockets are 11-0-2-0 in 13 games this month. That is the equivalent of 24 points in the standings. The 2002-2003 edition of the Rockets went 13-1-0-0 with one tie in 15 games in the month of January. That is the equivalent of 27 points in the standings. The only loss came to the Kamloops Blazers.
McKinlay Milestone: Dylen McKinlay celebrates his 300th career WHL regular season game tonight against the Royals . Oddly enough his career started with the Royals, who were then known as the Chilliwack Bruins. Interestingly, McKinlay's first WHL game was against the Kelowna Rockets. The last Rockets player to record 300 games played was Geordie Wudrick in 2010-2011. Wudrick played in a total of 349 regular season games.
Rockets 300 Club: Six players have celebrated over 300 games, all with the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets. Here is that list: Jason Deleurme: 341, Tyler Mosienko: 338, Brett Palin: 324, Cam Paddock: 323, Gavin McLeod: 321 and Ryan Cuthbert: 319. Geordie Wudrick (349), Bart Rushmer (333), Clayton Barthel (327) and Simon Ferguson (319) also celebrated 300 games in the WHL, but like McKinlay, their entire career was not solely spent with the Rockets organization.
Home Cook'n: The Rockets are 22-2-0-0 at Prospera Place this season. The team has scored 124 goals (5.2 per game) and has allowed 46 goals against (1.9 per game). The Rockets have scored at least 3 or more goals in every home game this season except one, when they lost 3-2 to the visiting Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets have scored four or more goals in 18 of their 24 home games. Jordon Cooke and Jackson Whistle have combined for five home ice shutouts this season. The team has allowed two or fewer goals at home this season in 17 of 24 games.
This and That: The Rockets are 2 for 15 (13.3%) on the power play in their last five games….The Rockets have failed to score a power play goal in four of their last five games…The Rockets gave up 6 goals in a 6-5 overtime loss Monday in Kamloops. It marked the first time since a 6-2 loss in Calgary December 16th that they have surrendered 6 goals on the road….Myles Bell snapped a mini six game goal scoring drought with two goals in Kamloops Monday night. Bell has 29 goals on the season….The Rockets have 9 road games left in the regular season with 7 of them against BC Division teams…Five of the Rockets 10 losses this season have been decided by a single goal… Jordon Cooke was named the WHL Goaltender of the Month for December. Cooke was 6-0-0-0 and posted a goals against average of 2.00. Cooke had his 20 consecutive winning streak snapped in Monday's overtime loss in Kamloops. Kelly Guard won 10 straight games – four different times between 2002 and 2004….Since a 3-0 win over the Kamloops Blazers November 1st the Rockets are 28-4-2-0….The Rockets 21 game home ice winning streak is a team record. The franchise record is held by the Tacoma Rockets, who won 24 straight home games in 1992-93….Dylen McKinlay is the only Rocket to play in every game this season…The Rockets have led going into the third period in 34 of their last 42 games with two games being tied heading into the final frame.…The Rockets have 34 power play goal in their last 42 games (34 for 144 over that span – 23.6 %)…..The Rockets have scored 204 goals in their last 43 games (average 4.74)....Madison Bowey (22), Mitch Wheaton (63) and Myles Bell (87) are rated among the top players by NHL Central Scouting for June's draft. The mid-season rankings were released by NHLCS on Tuesday. Jackson Whistle is rated (26) among North American goalies…The Rockets have out-scored the opposition 124-46 on home ice this season…The Rockets have scored the most goals in the WHL (228)….Zach Franko has sixteen more points (55) than the 39 he put up all of last season. That is a new career high for the 19 year-old…..J.T Barnett has 8+11=19 in 27 games with the Rockets…Dylen McKinlay has four shorthanded goals…Since relocating from Tacoma to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-96 season, the Rockets have picked up 664 wins over the last 18 seasons…Since entering the WHL in 1991, the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets have scored 4 thousand 558 goals (4,558)…Zach Franko has 55 points this season. Twenty-eight (31) have been registered on the road with 24 coming on home ice…Jordon Cooke's 27 wins is the most in the WHL….The Rockets have participated in one shootout game this season. That is a league low. Last season the Rockets were involved in a league high 15…The Rockets lead the WHL in home ice wins with (22)…Dylen McKinlay leads the team in plus/minus with a +42. It is the highest +/- total for a Kelowna Rockets player. Jesse Schultz was +40 in 2002-2003…Since November 1st the Rockets have lost four times in regulation…Six of the teams ten regulation losses came in the first five weeks of the season…Zach Franko is one point shy of 150 for his career….JT Barnett is 5 games shy of 250 for his WHL career…Tyrell Goulbourne has 16 fighting majors this season.Who's Hot: Tyson Baillie has 3+3=6 in his last four games…..Jesse Lees has four goals in his last six games…Colton Sissons is riding an eight game point streak. Sissons has 3+9=12 over that period… Ryan Olsen has goals in eight of his last ten games… Zach Franko has 7+7=14 in January, tops among Rockets players…MacKenzie Johnston has 11 points (3+8=11) in his last 12 games…Carter Rigby has 7+3=10 in last five games.


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I was stung over the weekend, and had a very scary reaction... I need some advice since my doctor was not entirely familiar.
* I have NEVER had a reaction to a sting other than minor swelling or pian - local to the sting!!
I was in the vicinity of my small hive, and something stung me on the back of my head. It sure felt like a typical bee sting at the time. About 5 minutes later I develpoped extreeeeeeme itching on my palms. I knew right away that something was wrong and headed for the house. By the time I went inside, the soles of my feet were itching terribly and I was feeling a bit flushed. I found some info on the internet that advised that I keep the sting site below my heart, but thought that standing on my head might actually exaccerbate the problems.
At this point I started to feel nausea, and developed itchy spots - hives I guess - and my heart really picked up speed, then I felt my heart beat( pounding in my feet and palms. My face swelled up, and I felt very woozy. Then, as I was about to call 911, I barfed into the laundry hamper, (Wife not too thrilled with this move) and got into bed... took a Benedyl and started to feel better. I never had constriction of my airways, though my sinusses felt like I had developed a cold. I was terrified, but it was over in about 20 minutes.
So, I still don't know if I am allergic, or if I just had a bad reaction. Does the location of the sting matter? I have been stung about 6 times over the last year, but this is the first reaction of this type. Is it a reaction or am I a new member of the "I am allergic to Bees and now have to get rid of the hive" club?
I got an epi pen ( $65, thanks for nuttin' blue cross) and need to know if I need to walk around with it at all times in case, or if I just need it nearby as a precaution. Can I expect things to get worse if I have another sting????
Should I get rid of my hobby hive???
Thanks for any insights - I am a bit freaked out, and am looking for some practical info.
Steve Hofmann
North Hills, CA


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Precious Chihuahua Puppy Bonds With His Toy Hippo
Boomer, a six week old Chihuahua puppy, is getting used to his new home. Being so small isn't easy, so his human found the perfect little buddy for him. Cue the "awwwwww!"
Jon Hamm Adopts Dog Who Was Returned To Shelter Twice: Click "Next" below!
Julie Hunt Julie resides in Northern New Jersey with her two kids, two dogs, cat and partner. She has two published books which make excellent trivets if you aren't a fan of poetry. She tolerates people but LOVES animals. If she isn't blogging, she's most likely cuddling with her pups, Paisley and Skyler.


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Carolina & Kure Beaches NC
All events are family friendly and all are free with exception of the fashion show and tour of homes fundraisers.
Starting with the lighting of the lake celebration the day after Thanksgiving and finishing with a New Year's celebration, the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach come alive during the Holiday Season.
The Island of Lights volunteers organize all of the events. For more information check the events page.
Website created by Jessica Gilbertsen (email me)
Island of Lights


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Do you want to perform advanced searches across both the CSD and ICSD? Join us for our CCDC and FIZ Karlsruhe interactive event at 15:30-17:00 BST on Wednesday 7th October 2020 to give us your use cases and requirements for searching and analysing across all organic, metal-organic and inorganic structural data. Register here https://info.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/csd-icsd
Your query was: DOI: doi:10.5517/ccdc.csd.cc1pyvcv


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No Smoking on Library Grounds
It's a shame that the library is not able or willing to enforce its "No Smoking on Library Grounds" rule. Exiting patrons are often forced into a cloud of smoke, not to mention the litter of discarded cigarette butts. One Tuesday there were three smokers sitting on the steps, blocking the entrance.
I can certainly appreciate your frustration with having to walk through smoke to visit the library. Smokers are spoken to and moved outside the iron fences whenever staff encounter smokers there. "Smokers outposts" or ashtrays are available at the edges of the grounds as well as signs to let smokers know to properly dispose of the butts there. You can help us enforce our policy by letting staff know as soon as you encounter smokers on the library grounds. That way we can address it directly at the time that it is occurring.
Deb Fasulo
Assistant Library Director


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LPL Financial said recently that Michelle Oroschakoff, formerly global risk officer at Morgan Stanley, has been appointed chief risk officer and managing director for the independent broker-dealer. Oroschakoff, who will be based in San Diego and report to LPL CEO Mark Casady, is now responsible for firm-wide risk management processes and controls, including regulatory compliance, data security and privacy and other critical risk management functions, as well as working closely with the firm's regulators.
"We are delighted to welcome Michelle Oroschakoff to our firm," said Casady in a statement.
Oroschakoff joins LPL, which has about 13,400 affiliated reps, from Morgan Stanley, which has some 16,300 employee FAs. At Morgan Stanley, she was most recently the global chief risk officer of the wealth management division and prior to that, chief compliance officer for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Before serving in these roles, she was the general counsel for Fisher Investments, an independent RIA. Earlier, she spent 11 years in a number of senior legal and compliance roles at Morgan Stanley, including as associate general counsel and head of the firm's San Francisco litigation department.
Commonwealth Shifts
Also in June, Commonwealth Financial Network named Rich Hunter as the independent broker-dealer's new president and chief operating officer; Hunter has been and will continue to serve as Commonwealth's chief financial officer.
Peter Wheeler, who served as president of the privately owned firm since 1992, is now vice chairman. He will retain oversight of legal and compliance operations for the IBD, which has roughly 1,450 affiliated independent advisors, while focusing on long-term management issues and strategic planning.
"Peter has been a strong force in the growth and success of Commonwealth over the years, and I am extremely grateful that his new role will grant him the ability to continue to touch all areas of the business …," said Wayne Bloom, CEO of Commonwealth, in a press release. "Peter has been, and will continue to be, an essential component to Commonwealth's success."
Founded in 1979 in Waltham, Mass., Commonwealth has about 1,450 advisors. It was the third-ranking IBD as measured by revenue in the Investment Advisor's 2013 Broker-Dealer Reference Guide.
"I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this [new] role than Rich," Bloom said. "His advisor-centric approach to indispensable service, combined with his deep understanding of the independent advisory marketplace, makes him uniquely qualified for this role [as president, COO and CFO]."
The news of the executive shifts comes on the heels of the IBD's announcement that it now offers five affiliation models for advisors, including corporate RIA and RIA-only affiliations. Other affiliations are those of a traditional representative, a dual-registered rep and a hybrid-rep model.
In May, Commonwealth also added the position of senior vice president to its ranks, promoting seven individuals to this position within their respective departments. "This realignment is another step toward a stronger core and more successful future for our firm," Bloom said, "and these changes will provide the structure to better position ourselves as a premier independent broker-dealer—RIA to financial advisors."
Royal Alliance
Royal Alliance said in early July that Art Tambaro, the firm's president and CEO, would retire at the end of the year. Dmitry Goldin, a member of Royal's senior leadership team for the last decade, will assume the role of president and CEO at that time.
Tambaro, 72, explained in an interview that he is "ready" to retire. "When I took over from the COO position in 2007, we had our best year ever. We then had the crisis, if you would call it that, and now in 2013 we're on track to be even better than in 2007. So we've come full circle," he shared.
Tambaro's successor, Goldin, brings over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry to his role, the last 13 at Royal Alliance. He most recently served as senior vice president of business development. He joined Royal Alliance in 2000 as a regional manager and was promoted to a senior management role in 2003. He assumed the business-development role in 2009.
"I'm not concerned about the length of the transition, as it's really been in place for quite some time," Goldin said. "I've worked and traveled with and know him well. That transition has to be in place, and it has to be smooth and seamless, in order to ensure high retention each year, which stands at 97%."
Tambaro said Goldin's biggest challenge in assuming the role will be to continue to relate the firm's message and value position to advisors, specifically surrounding its open architecture and technology, which both men say is a competitive differentiator. Tambaro added that continuing to "raise the bar" with the firm's performance will also be an ongoing challenge.
Jeff Planty, vice president of operations, will assume the role of senior vice president of business development. The firm says "he will work closely with Goldin to further enhance Royal's services and support to advisors," who number close to 2,000.
In other news, independent broker-dealer First Allied Securities of San Diego said it has tapped Marissa Fox-Foley to become senior managing director of marketing. The veteran marketing executive—who was with LPL Financial from 2008 to 2012—now reports to Robert Holcomb, president of First Allied Wealth Management. She will have oversight of all marketing and brand communications functions at the firm.
John Sullivan and Melanie Waddell contributed to this report.


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NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots the Curiosity rover and its parachute during its descent on Sunday night, just a minute before landing.
NASA's Curiosity rover may be the star of the Martian show, but it was the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter that wowed the crowd this morning with an incredible picture of the rover at the end of its parachute, six minutes into its "seven minutes of terror."
The orbiter's imaging team had planned the shot for months, and the payoff came Sunday night when MRO snapped the picture from a distance of 211 miles (340 kilometers). At the time, Curiosity was about 2 miles (3 kilometers) above the Martian surface, still protected inside its Mars Science Laboratory back shell and heat shield.
Journalists applauded when the image was unveiled at this morning's news briefing by Sarah Milkovich, a scientist on the team for MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE.
"If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape," Milkovich said in a news release. "When you consider that we have been working on this sequence since March and had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken, you begin to realize how challenging this picture was to obtain."
Milkovich said the image resolution was 13.2 inches (33.6 centimeters) per pixel. The operation was more difficult to take than expected, due to the relative positions of the two spacecraft as their paths crossed, but MRO managed to get the shot and send it back overnight. In the days ahead, the orbiter has been programmed to take additional pictures of the rover on the ground, within Gale Crater.
"Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars," Milkovich said. "We definitely caught NASA's newest celebrity in the act."
By the way, this isn't the first time MRO has caught a falling star on Mars: Back in 2008, the orbiter snapped a similarly amazing picture of Phoenix Mars Lander during its descent to the Red Planet's north polar region.
Update for 7:55 p.m. Aug. 7: Another section of the same image apparently shows the spacecraft's heat shield, which was flung away from Curiosity just before this picture was taken. The fact that the disk-shaped shield is standing out in such sharp relief against the background of the Martian terrain, with no disturbance surrounding it, suggests that we're seeing it as it's falling through the air. Here's the wide-angle view:
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona
This is a wide-angle view of Gale Crater's interior, seen during the descent of the Curiosity rover. The upper inset zeroes in on the rover's backshell and parachute, while the lower inset appears to show the spacecraft's heat shield descending separately.
A post-landing picture from MRO shows Curiosity as well as the heat shield and other spacecraft components on the ground.
More about Mars:
- Curiosity rover scores touchdown on Mars
- Scientists want to look for Martian life
- Last-minute guide to the Mars landing
- What will we see from Mars, and when will we see it?
- Why we're obsessed with Mars
- Mars probe provides radiation revelations
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


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If you're at home, in your dorm room, at a random cafe, or in the public library, all you need to watch the US Open this year is an internet connection. USOpen.org is offering free streaming of five courts, and if you have a quality, high speed connection, then you're set.
Not only is the picture pretty bangin' but there's an option to chat with other fans, watch two courts at once, choose another court to watch (Ashe, Armstrong, Grandstand and Courts 11 and 13) or view match stats. If you weren't sure it was the 21st century, this is it, folks.
(screen grab via usopen.org)


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OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
If you think branding is a business marketing term and doesn't apply to authors, it's time to change your mind!
The internet is made up of many tiny niches and websites, blogs and books relate to those markets. People find those sites by searching for specific words and phrases based on what they are interested in. Your author website, or your book, can be found in this way too.
Branding is important because it enables people to find you, and when they find you, they might just buy your book. So who are you online? Which niche do you fit into? How do people find you?
Creating an author platform is vital for a new author's success, and creating a brand is the basis for the platform. You need to know what you are creating before you start!
Deciding On Your Brand
To decide on your brand, answer the following questions:
- How do you want to be known? What words do you want people to associate with you?
- What are your goals for the next 3 years? What words are associated with that?
- Will your books be in a particular genre?
- Who do you admire and want to emulate in writing and also as a brand? Find their websites and keep screenprints of what you like and don't like. Use them as a model (but obviously no plagiarism!)
- If you have a website already, enter it into Google Keyword tool. Are you happy with the keywords associated with your site? Do you need to change your focus?
- What images do you want associated with you and your brand?
You also need to know what you want for your future, because if you can't see the brand extending over multiple books you have hard work ahead! I made this mistake after my first book "How To Enjoy Your Job" when I branded myself with "career change" and a business image. I quickly realised that I didn't want to speak or write on this topic anymore and started The Creative Penn, a new brand, from scratch. I brainstormed ideas and settled on using my own name and the image of a pen with creativity. You can still keep more than 1 niche/brand, but be aware of the effort involved!
Having a brand doesn't mean you need an expensive logo or unique design (although you can do these things). It means you have an image and words associated with you in people's minds. You resonate with something to your fans and customers. People will form these opinions themselves, but you can control this if you build a brand.
Building Your Brand
Once you have decided what you want your brand to be, then you need to ensure you stay on message, and make sure people don't get confused when they arrive at your site. For example, if you write a horror book, people will not expect pink teddy bears and smiley faces on your site. If you write romance, have a site that reflects that.
* Blog and network on topic and within your brand niche. For example, on this blog I will not talk about my day job, I won't give you cooking or family advice. I also won't review a sci-fi book. I will stay within the bounds of The Creative Penn brand because that is what you expect (and want) from this blog. I will also only tweet the same topics as it fits with my brand.
* Be consistent. Try using the same photo across multiple social networks so people recognise you. Put your picture on your key material because you want people to connect with you personally, not just your book. Try not to jump around too much with your brand ideas. Think about it, then focus your energy on developing that brand consistently. The internet compounds your efforts, so the longer you are in the game, the more effective you will be.
* Find others in your brand niche. Connect with likeminded people and follow similar blogs. Get to know who makes an impact in your area and read what they are doing. Connect with them on Twitter if you can. Perhaps interview them for a podcast? Google them and see where they have been posting or appearing. Do they have video or audio? Which social networks do they use? Where do they sell books? From there you will also find people you can network with and who may start following your blog.


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You are here: Home ‹ Board index ‹ Movie Discussion ‹ All Other/Older Movies ‹ (2004) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Expert Eternal Sunshine Test
Discuss this movie. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Even though I've seen the movie a few times, I only got a seventy-one. An average fan. Oh well. At least I'm not alone . Good job JT!
I got 85! I connected with the movie, but there are so many details there!
BTW, one of the questions comes from a deleted scene! Yeah... I do have the DVD... it's the only one I have though... I like his work in the most serious movies -- I have to confess that I only saw a few of his movies, the most recent ones.
84%..... ok i found it confusifying..... w/ all the chronilogical order stuff... like did they want it how it went in the movie? or in real life?? confusing.... oh well.. gonna take it again:)
"I don't know how to define myself and hopefully i'll never find out."
~ Jim Carrey
I got 79% , I just have to that again, well first I shall watch the movie off course and notice some of the details, like clemetines phone number
"Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile,
and finds in your presence that life is worth while.
So when you are lonely, remember it's true
Somebody somewhere is thinking of you."
The Ultimate Fan
You scored and 92 Knowledge!
WOOOOHOOO!!!!! geez, Im proud of my self, :D:D
"Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile,
and finds in your presence that life is worth while.
So when you are lonely, remember it's true
Somebody somewhere is thinking of you."
I got
Average Fan
You scored and 71 Knowledge!
Your the typical average Eternal Sunshine fan. You got a good amount of the questions right. Still not great though. I would go back and watch the movie again to get a better score.
I had to guess on some questions then
"Here I come to 'seize' the day!"
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From an economic point of view, two things make Ars Technica possible: advertising and subscriptions. I don't need to tell you that online advertisers by and large do not understand IT professionals and our geeky souls. Those of you who have joined our Premier subscription offering don't see ads anymore (and I'll just assume no one is unwise enough to admit to blocking ads and violating our TOS), but I ask everyone to help us by taking this survey about advertising.
No, it's not exciting, it's not glamorous. The first several questions are about as dry as they can get, but we are using the data about different IT professionals and their different roles in order to assess your feelings about advertising. This is your chance to tell advertisers what irritates and annoys you.
Some of you may have seen a previous version of this survey, and there were plenty of problems with it. We didn't design this, but it has been revamped and I hope everyone will find it much easier to take.
I can't stress how valuable this information will be. We know you guys, and we know what is respectable and what crosses the line when it comes to advertising. But clients and agencies often think they know better. This data will help us prove to them that some of their approaches are fatally flawed.
I sincerely thank everyone who takes the five or 10 minutes to complete this. We're fighting the good fight.
Listing image by From Flickr user ?o??